Okay: Clutch in, shift gears...

The 'little' short story I wrote a few days ago ran away with me. It is now going to be a novel. Simon and Tia (my main characters) are not to be denied, and I finished Chapter 1 yesterday and Chapter 2 today. (Mark me down for 2000 words on the book in a week challenge for today) 4500 words for the novel so far.

Normally, I'm a plot based writer, and I have my two little novel plots all ready to go. This story is definately a character based one. I barely have an idea where the story is going, but the characters are so strong and interesting they are sweeping me away.

So... that means a slight strategy change.

I'm going to let these characters tell their story. The world is the same as the one I developed for the Tor novel, only this story involves totally different characters. So, when (and I don't mean 'if') this novel is complete, I'll send it to Tor. Presently, the novel is titled Deluge, but that might change.

I'm not sure when I'll work on the samples for Nocturne. Probably in a few weeks when the spring quarter at school is finished. I definately won't wait until Deluge is complete to work on it.

I also have a novel I'm reading for a fellow writing friend that I really must work on so she can get it back and finish up her edits and start submitting.

Lots of Work

I've managed to outline the two novels I am planning to work on next. I'll be ready to write the sample chapters and synopsis for the partial manuscript I plan to send to Nocturne for consideration this weekend, assuming I am caught up on homework and other obligations.

In the meantime, I was just going to write a page or two on a little story I wanted to write and submit to Venus Press. The story caught me up in it and I wrote 5 1/2 pages. It's nice when it flows like that. I'm not sure when I'll have a chance to sit down and work on it some more, but this week or next I should be able to finish that short piece. This little story relates to the storyline I was going to use for the Tor novel, and I may even re-use this character (Simon) in that novel as a secondary character.

Planning Ahead

I've finally managed to come up with outlines on some characters and plots for two paranormal novels. Both would fit, I believe, with either Tor Paranormal or Nocturne. This gives me a back up: if one rejects a manuscript, I'll send it to the other. If both reject it, I'll rewrite it for length, and send it on to Love Spell.

My plan is to write a synopsis and 3 chapters for Nocturne and submit it. (They accept partials). Then write a full manuscript for Tor while I'm waiting. Whenever that novel is done and submitted, I'll go ahead and complete the first novel. It doesn't matter if it gets rejected or not, I still need to complete the novel. Either to send in if Nocturne like the partial, or to submit to Tor instead.

This should definately keep me busy writing for the rest of the year, however I am also toying with a few short stories I might write and send into Venus Press to give me some variety.